Sumner County Executive Anthony Holt’s plans for Sumner Enterprise Park hit a dead end last fall when an ad hoc committee formed to research a proposed industrial park said the time was not right to pursue it. But the issue is back before the planning commission next week, as owners of the proposed 1,000-acres between Old Highway 109 and Dobbins Pike northeast of Gallatin are requesting the land be rezoned.

In November 2016, the ad hoc committee determined that other capital projects for education, the county courthouse and jail should come before funding an industrial park.
Fully developing the park could have cost $86.09 million, with $23.8 million coming from the county, according to discussions at a committee meeting last fall. The bulk of the county’s portion would fund a $19.8 million land purchase and $2 million in improvements to the interchange at the old and new portions of state Route 109.

In a phone interview Tuesday, Holt said that before the county would have even considered purchasing the land, environmental assessments and geotechnical surveys would need to be performed. Those studies would have cost the county $500,000, half of which would have come from grants.

“At the end, the committee said at this time, we don’t want to invest our money in it without the funding,” said Holt.

“We need more jobs in Middle Tennessee,” said Holt. “We are running out of industrial property.”

Holt said he targeted this area because it was on CSX Railroad's main line north to south, and accessible to Highway 109, as well as the new bypass tying it into Interstates 840, 40 and 65. His vision for the site was to have one or two advanced manufacturing companies move in to create a high number of jobs.

But because the committee didn’t think it was a good idea, Holt says they dropped it, and it never went before the commission for a vote.

Opposition

A nonprofit organization called Preserve Sumner County with nearly 500 followers on Facebook and about 1,500 members in a Facebook group is urging residents who oppose the project to show up at the planning commission meeting Tuesday night.

The group is calling into question Bruce Rainey, Sumner County Zoning Board of Appeals member who is also representing the property owners as Bruce Rainey & Associates in their application to rezone the land.

“If you are concerned about preserving not only the history and resources of Sumner County, but also its integrity, we need to hear your voice,” reads a Facebook post on the Preserve Sumner County’s Facebook page dated Nov. 11.

Preserve Sumner County spokesperson Audrey Trout Hesson said she hoped the planning commission would continue to follow its own zoning guidelines as outlined in its master development plan.

"I'm hopeful they will follow their own plan and leave the land as is," she said.

“I think there is a lot of miscommunication about this,” said Holt. “These are private citizens coming forth requesting a zoning change.”

Holt said that the planning commission will make a recommendation to the county commission on whether or not to approve the zoning request. It would then go before the commission for a vote.

Holt said he had no involvement in this request, and added he has not applied for any new grants.

“This is not some backdoor way (to get the industrial site passed),” said Holt. The original grants, he said, would not apply to private citizens.

“There’s no funding, and I have never requested funding for purchasing the land,” said Holt, clarifying that he requested funding to complete the environmental and geotechnical studies.

Sumner News Editor Amy Nixon can be reached at anixon@gannett.com or 615-946-7549.